DRC Story Relating to Les Miserables | Children Cobalt Mines

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Children in the DRC are being used by the more developed countries in a rather harsh way. Children in the DRC, often as young as 7 years old, are sent into mines to mine cobalt, a very valuable mineral used in batteries for devices such as smart phones. About 40,000 children worked in these mines around the country in 2014.
This story relates to the theme of playing the system vs. integrity in Les Miserables. The American companies know very well who they are buying the cobalt from. These cobalt mines in the DRC cause adults and children to work for 12 or more hours a day, often earning 1-2 dollars per day. This is a huge problem and I am also a part of it. Until the American companies mandate that their workers must be adults and are payed at least enough to survive, these mining companies in the DRC will not change their ways. The American companies will also have no interest in doing this because this could cut into their profits significantly. This proves that these companies in the U.S. are playing the system instead of acting with integrity.

DRC Food

Fufu & Moambe
Caakiri
Main dish: Moambe
Moambe is a traditional African stew made with a red sauce from the fruit of an African Palm
Ingredients:

• Sauce from the fruit of the African Palm
• Marinated beef, mutton, or chicken
• Chopped onions
• Chopped tomatoes
• Few cups of water

The moambe looks very appealing to me. I would most definitely want to try this. It looks sort of like a stew that would be made in America except made with more available foods that the Congolese people have at their disposal.

Dessert: Caakiri
Caakiri is a dessert similar to that of a rice pudding of the Middle East or India. It is made with couscous (which is from a wheat) today but it was traditionally made from African grains like maize and black eyed peas. It might have been a main dish of sorts originally but it has since evolved to include sugar and has become a dessert or snack.
Ingredients:

• two cups of couscous
• pat of butter
• dash of sal
• one cup evaporated milk
• two cups plain or vanilla yogurt
• one cup sour cream
• one-half cup sugar
• one-half teaspoon vanilla extract
• dash of nutmeg
• raisins or crushed pineapple or mint garnish

Caakiri doesn't seem like something I would enjoy. I am not at all a fan of rice pudding and sour cream doesn't tickle my taste buds in the slightest. I wouldn't be too inclined to try this dish.

Other: Fufu
Fufu is a very popular food in the Congo. It is made from a thick paste of sweet potatoes or yams and is then boiled and mashed. Fufu is usually accompanied by a peanut soup which is traditionally eaten by making a tiny bowl with a section of fufu and scooping the soup into the little bowl before eating it.
Ingredients: 

• Sweet potato or yams paste

Fufu looks like a dish I could enjoy. It doesn't seem too out of the ordinary and I would most definitely like it if it was dipped in the peanut soup as it usually is. I am a big fan of peanut butter and I like almost all starches so I would like to try this dish.

Autobiography of a Congolese Child Soldier

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According to BBC, an estimate of one out of every ten child soldiers lives in the DRC. Michel Chikwanine of the Congo was abducted at the age of five to be a soldier. He managed to escape to Canada and wrote his autobiography about his experiences being a child soldier. He said it was one of the hardest things any human being ever has to go through, which is completely understandable. He was just outside playing with his friends and he, as well as some of his friends, were taken to become soldiers. Once they got to the camp, they were drugged and Michel was even forced to kill one of his best friends! He managed to flee a couple weeks later when the village was raided. In 2004, Michel and his mother moved to Ottawa, Canada. His father was a human rights activist and was poisoned while taking refuge in Uganda.

This man has unbelievable courage to be able to tell his story and let the world know of the atrocities that are going on in the DRC. All sides of the misshapen civil war conflict act like they are manly and better than the other faction when they take children soldiers that fight and do their dirty work. The ones that claim to be the most manly have children backing up their words. This is unbelievable how many children soldiers are in one country. 1 out of every 10 is from the Congo! That is an astronomically high number. Everything in the Congo has to stop. It has gone way too far. If at all possible, the country should just split to be run by the different factions that control the areas in my opinion. It should at least stop some of the displacement going on in the never-ending conflict.

Steve Bandoma, Congo Artist

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Steve Bandoma is a very talented artist from the Congo. He appeals to the Congolese government to try to get more support for the arts and culture in the country. Mr. Bandoma's first solo exhibition in London had to go alone because he was denied a visa into the country. He was obviously rightfully upset by this. He says he wants to defeat the stereotype of African art and be able to popularize it without Western support.
I really enjoy Bandoma's works. His paintings look more modern, and I like the abstract style that he employs. He cares a lot about his work as well as other African artists'. He wants to advance the African culture and allow it to be viewed by everybody without a preexisting stereotype.

                          

Democratic Republic of Congo Culture

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The people of the Congo are very religious. This is due to Portuguese missionaries spreading Christianity in the area centuries ago. Around half of the population of the DRC is Roman Catholic. Although the Catholic church and other Christian denominations are strong, many of the people in the Congo mix Christianity with a belief in the spirit of their ancestors. Many also believe in 'evil spirits' and witchcraft. Music and dance are very important to the Congolese people. Their style of music comes from jazz and rumba bands from the 1940's and 1950's. Most of the instruments are handmade and bands form in the streets of towns and cities showing a sense of community in the culture.
I can't fully comment of the DRC culture as I have not experienced it, but one thing stands out to me that could possibly further harm the situation in the country. A popular belief in witchcraft can be very dangerous to many people as demonstrated in the Salem witch trials. As I said before, I don't know whether this is a big deal or not but if enough people believe in witchcraft and believe a certain person is a 'witch' that could be very detrimental.

Ugandan rebels suspected in deadly attack in DRC

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In an eastern part of the DRC in a town called Beni, 26 people were killed overnight by a rebel group called the Allied Democratic Forces which has been targeted by the Congolese army and U.N. peacekeepers. Army spokesman Lt. Col. Oliver Hamuli said the attackers' identities have yet to be discovered. This attack comes a week after another attack in the town of Oicha in which the ADF killed nine people. 40 women and 7 boys from a remote village were also abducted last week by a different rebel group called Maimai-Simba. The ADF gets it funding from trafficking timber and gold. The group is accused of rights abuses such as murder, rape, and use of children soldiers.
The greed and the need for power in the DRC is scary. Any group that is against any other group will do anything in order to further their own agenda to gain more power and money. Even if it is just something for their own entertainment, they will ruin other people's lives just to get what they want. Almost every group in this twisted civil war acts like a mean playground bully. They are two focused on their own wants that they endlessly displace and murder innocent civilians and it is simply disgusting.

Congo to hold referendum on third presidential term

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The Congo government announced that it would hold a referendum, a vote on a single political question, on the constitutional change that could allow President Denis Sassou Nguesso to keep ruling in the DRC. He was president from 1979 to 1992 and lost in the next election. He returned to power after his rebel forces defeated the incumbent president's in 1997 and has been ruling ever since. This is supposedly in Sassou's favor as the opposing party is weak and doesn't have media control.
This obviously should not happen. No one person should have as much power a he does and stay in power for that long. He has been in power for a total of 31 years. The referendum should never happen and when it gets voted on it needs to be shut down. If we had a person in power for the United States at president for 31 years, that would be called tyranny. For what's best for the DRC, the referendum can't win.